England cricket team compared to All Blacks-By Padmesh Gupta

Watching the England cricket team destroy Australia is just like watching the All Blacks, according to former player Graeme Swann.

On Thursday England defeated Australia by six wickets at the Emirates Riverside ground in Durham.

It was England’s fourth straight victory over their greatest rivals and they are on track for a 5-0 clean sweep over the beleaguered Australian outfit.

So good are England at the moment, that former England spinner Swann said watching them is like watching the All Blacks.

READ MORE

* Red-hot England crush Australia

* Bans end before Shield final

* NZ scores MCG Boxing Day test

“I never played in a one-day side so confident, so blase about chasing a big total,” Swann told the BBC.

“This is even more impressive than the 481 (their score in the third ODI).

“It was so ruthless, so un-English. It was like the All Blacks.

“[Jason] Roy and [Jonny] Bairstow are a frightening prospect,” Swann said of the England opening batsmen, who scored 174 runs before the fall of their first wicket, when chasing Australia’s score of 310.

“You wouldn’t want to be any of the bowlers at the World Cup next year, knowing you’ll be faced by those two.”

England overtook Australia’s score with 5.2 overs in hand and they’ve shown that their success in 50 over cricket in Australia and New Zealand last year wasn’t a fluke.

“The bowlers struggled to take wickets early on but the other way you can control the game is the run-rate and they did that exceptionally well.

“Australia never got away from us and David Willey kept them down to a chaseable total at the end.

“The 5-0 doesn’t hold huge significance. The opportunity to win a game against a good side is huge.

“We’re only a year away from the World Cup now and our preparations in different grounds around the country need to be good. Manchester presents a different challenge and different conditions so hopefully we adapt well again.”